The "national conversation" Americans demanded after the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre is fast turning into a diatribe hinged — in some instances unhinged — on government "doing something," no matter how meaningless or expensive.

Increasingly, proponents of stricter gun laws and "mental-health reform" claim their demands are rooted in "common sense," a strategy that attempts to pre-empt reasoned debate that surely would unmask them as counterproductive, unaffordable, unenforceable or useless. When the cost of their proposals is challenged, the do-something crowd quickly deploys its "if-it-saves-one-life" excuse and demonizes its critics as enablers of future mass shootings.

Still, they're finding the Second Amendment is a tough enough nut to crack. Police can't be everywhere, so even rabid gun-controllers such as Vice President Joseph Biden admit a loaded gun is the best defense against armed criminals.

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